Milwaukee M12 Polisher vs Right Angle Die Grinder

[pistolpete1313]

For someone looking for just one tool for headlight polishing, wheel sanding, material cleanup, etc would the right angle angle grinder be an ok compromise to just get the die grinder or is there no substitute for a polisher?

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[DFB]

For someone looking for just one tool for headlight polishing, wheel sanding, material cleanup, etc would the right angle angle grinder be an ok compromise to just get the die grinder or is there no substitute for a polisher?

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I have the M12 polisher tool and for the multitude of random tasks you outline (very similar to my own) I think the polisher with the side handle and pistol grip is a good choice. One can use the roloc abrasive disc and polishing pads with provided accessories that come with the tool and can also add a collet from an Ebay seller if you desire for some items with straight stem shank. Same vendor has others adapters too 1/4" and 5/8" accessories. I can recommend that vendor also as I have purchased and been satisfied

The major feature the die grinder would offer will be much higher max speed settings but the 8300rpm on the polisher works well for many tasks and about 4x faster than any drill trying to do the same tasks.

Some here on TGJ mentioned having collet issues with the new grinders sometimes trouble removing the shank accessories

If I was doing tire rims and/or other wheel cleanup work fairly steady I would def get a grinder

 

[pistolpete1313]

Thanks!

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[RKA]

Using the polisher for those tasks might work. The right angle die grinder is a more niche tool. Small clean up tasks or grinding metal is what it was made for. The speed is too high for polishing plastic, so I would advise against it.

 

[dnschmidt]

A polisher is a polisher and a die grinder is a die grinder. I have both Milwaukee tools mentioned above and love them both but perhaps the best solution in your case is the new Makita line of cordless 5" angle grinders some of which are variable speed and go down to 2800 rpm which is just about perfect for 3" polishing accessories. They are 18V tools and have a lot more power. Only downside is the lack of trigger controlled variable speed as the speed is set by a dial and is basically on/off in function.

 

[oldschoolcraft]

A polisher is a polisher and a die grinder is a die grinder.

I have an M12 fuel die grinder and am getting into using it finally. I dont have an interest in owning a dedicated polisher at this time, but I was thinking of polishing my headlights.

Is there any 1/4" attachment for a die grinder that could make it work 50% to 80% as well as a dedicated polisher, in a safe way? Or any kind of attachments that could be used with a polishing paste?

Safety is paramount but I try to avoid owning specialized tools that have limited use for me so dont want to buy a polisher just to do my one headlights. I think the headlight kit I bought has a polishing tip for a cordless drill. But I figured a die grinder might be better than a drill.

 

[garfunkle24]

Some here on TGJ mentioned having collet issues with the new grinders sometimes trouble removing the shank accessories

I only know of this being an issue when the user doesn't know how to use the tool properly.

You loosen the collet and then if you keep backing it off more it actually spreads the collet making it EASIER to remove attachments than a typical die grinder. Just loosening the nut does NOT loosen the collet.

I have a couple of Dotco grinders with this feature so was obvious to me when I first used the M12 but probably isn't to most users.

For my use I would get the die grinder over the polisher, more options on speeds as well as attachments. Idk if the lowest speed on the grinder is slow enough for enough for polishing though.

 

[techieman33]

I have an M12 fuel die grinder and am getting into using it finally. I dont have an interest in owning a dedicated polisher at this time, but I was thinking of polishing my headlights.

Is there any 1/4" attachment for a die grinder that could make it work 50% to 80% as well as a dedicated polisher, in a safe way? Or any kind of attachments that could be used with a polishing paste?

Safety is paramount but I try to avoid owning specialized tools that have limited use for me so dont want to buy a polisher just to do my one headlights. I think the headlight kit I bought has a polishing tip for a cordless drill. But I figured a die grinder might be better than a drill.

There are kits if you search for "1/4" polishing pad kit" you'll get some results. Doing it safely is going to depend on you and your trigger control. The polisher tops out at 4k or 7k rpm depending on the setting. The die grinder tops out at 10k rpm on it's lowest speed setting. So it would be easier to go to fast and burn things up. If your only doing 1 set of headlights you could always just chuck the polishing pads in your drill and do it that way. It will be slower, but your a lot less likely to do damage.

 

[oldschoolcraft]

There are kits if you search for "1/4" polishing pad kit" you'll get some results. Doing it safely is going to depend on you and your trigger control. The polisher tops out at 4k or 7k rpm depending on the setting. The die grinder tops out at 10k rpm on it's lowest speed setting. So it would be easier to go to fast and burn things up. If your only doing 1 set of headlights you could always just chuck the polishing pads in your drill and do it that way. It will be slower, but your a lot less likely to do damage.

Thanks, I did some more reading into this outside of GJ and it sounds like the polisher is going much slower than the die grinder.

Sometimes I want to minimize tools at my own detriment. I see a tool that spins, and I assume it must be interchangeable with another tool that spins.

But as I think about it, the motors are all going to be optimized for their specific tasks. Much like a marathon runner is built different than a sprinter. Both can run, but they specialize and can only do one thing really well.

The die grinder is meant to spin at very high rates of speed with little to no resistance, in a single direction for short periods of time.

A Dremel tool is meant to be a midget die grinder that sacrifices power for a more compact size when power isn't needed.

The polisher is meant to spin much slower for longer periods of time.

A drill is meant to spin in either direction at lower rates of speed but with more resistance.

Impact driver spins with a hammering motion, optimized for torque in the forward direction.

Impact wrench spins with a hammering motion, optimized for torque in the rear direction.

I'm going to wind up owning a lot of tools, aren't I?

 

[techieman33]

Thanks, I did some more reading into this outside of GJ and it sounds like the polisher is going much slower than the die grinder.

Sometimes I want to minimize tools at my own detriment. I see a tool that spins, and I assume it must be interchangeable with another tool that spins.

But as I think about it, the motors are all going to be optimized for their specific tasks. Much like a marathon runner is built different than a sprinter. Both can run, but they specialize and can only do one thing really well.

The die grinder is meant to spin at very high rates of speed with little to no resistance, in a single direction for short periods of time.

A Dremel tool is meant to be a midget die grinder that sacrifices power for a more compact size when power isn't needed.

The polisher is meant to spin much slower for longer periods of time.

A drill is meant to spin in either direction at lower rates of speed but with more resistance.

Impact driver spins with a hammering motion, optimized for torque in the forward direction.

Impact wrench spins with a hammering motion, optimized for torque in the rear direction.

I'm going to wind up owning a lot of tools, aren't I?

You can end up with a lot of tools, or you can learn to make it work with what you have. It just depends on what your budget looks like and how much your going to be using the tool.

 

[bobg03]

At soon to be 66 years old I have learned that the effort and time involved to do some tasks is a waste of both.

Headlights is one of these tasks, when they are newer I always apply a coat of quality paste wax at least twice yearly, when they finally start to turn yellow or become hazed I install new ones.

My current vehicles are 7 and 8 years old and still look good. Which is great with the amount of high ambient temps and lots of sunshine here.

 

[techieman33]

At soon to be 66 years old I have learned that the effort and time involved to do some tasks is a waste of both.

Headlights is one of these tasks, when they are newer I always apply a coat of quality paste wax at least twice yearly, when they finally start to turn yellow or become hazed I install new ones.

My current vehicles are 7 and 8 years old and still look good. Which is great with the amount of high ambient temps and lots of sunshine here.

Replacing them can get crazy expensive these days. A lot of newer cars headlights are several hundred dollars to replace, and can even get up into the thousands of dollars for some cars. So it can definitely be worth the effort to polish the current ones, even if you end up buying some tools or paying someone else to do it.

 

[oldschoolcraft]

Replacing them can get crazy expensive these days. A lot of newer cars headlights are several hundred dollars to replace, and can even get up into the thousands of dollars for some cars. So it can definitely be worth the effort to polish the current ones, even if you end up buying some tools or paying someone else to do it.

Agree, @bobg03 didn't post the make and model of his car so it's hard to follow whether replacing or polishing makes sense or not.

 

[Dig Doug]

On other forums I read they say to buy new and then spray w/ UV protectant clear coat - that way they won’t yellow or fog.

 

[theoldwizard1]

I LOVE my M12 angle die grinder ! I use if for have different tasks, but not polishing.

• Grinding/cutting. 3" wheels work fine with the Milwaukee arbor
• Roloc with Scotch Brite pads. Great for cleaning rust !
• Get some carbide burrs, just don't use them on aluminum ! Astro makes an affordable set

 

[Innovate1]

Reading this thread with interest as I have a project where I need to polish some half hard steel (Rc 30) after machining. Some of the inside radius are down to about 1/4". This is for a sheet metal forming die. Suggestions for tools and materials is appreciated. Also have various other polishing tasks so having tools that are more flexible is a plus.

 

[dnschmidt]

I have an M12 fuel die grinder and am getting into using it finally. I dont have an interest in owning a dedicated polisher at this time, but I was thinking of polishing my headlights.

Is there any 1/4" attachment for a die grinder that could make it work 50% to 80% as well as a dedicated polisher, in a safe way? Or any kind of attachments that could be used with a polishing paste?

Safety is paramount but I try to avoid owning specialized tools that have limited use for me so dont want to buy a polisher just to do my one headlights. I think the headlight kit I bought has a polishing tip for a cordless drill. But I figured a die grinder might be better than a drill.

You never win by going cheap. Top speed for a polisher is 2,800 rpm. Lowest speed on a die grinder is likely 12,000 rpm. So lets say you try to use the die grinder. 1) you'll possibly destroy the headlight (melting it locally) which will cost a hell of a lot more than the polisher would have. 2) The pads will likely fly off at that speed as Velcro only can take so much. At lease half of the questions on this board are from people trying to cheap out and probably many of them likely do. But, you never hear of their results from these efforts. I wonder why?

 

[bobg03]

Agree, @bobg03 didn't post the make and model of his car so it's hard to follow whether replacing or polishing makes sense or not.

Just for you sir,

2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee, 3.6 4x4, w/ 98,670 miles
2018 Subaru Legacy sport, 2.5 AWD w/ 47,320 miles.

Your turn....

 

[oldschoolcraft]

You never win by going cheap. Top speed for a polisher is 2,800 rpm. Lowest speed on a die grinder is likely 12,000 rpm. So lets say you try to use the die grinder. 1) you'll possibly destroy the headlight (melting it locally) which will cost a hell of a lot more than the polisher would have. 2) The pads will likely fly off at that speed as Velcro only can take so much. At lease half of the questions on this board are from people trying to cheap out and probably many of them likely do. But, you never hear of their results from these efforts. I wonder why?

I appreciate your comments and I see that you are correct and I agree with you. The speed difference is massive.

For me personally, it's not about cheaping out, it's about volume of tools. Storage space is expensive. Housing costs have skyrocketed. If I can cut three tools down to one tool, for three jobs that I dont do often, even if the cost of the one tool is double the cost of all three separate tools, that's the route I take.

I generally pay more for universal type tools than I would to buy the tools separately. One polisher doesnt take up much space but when you have a drill, hammer drill, impact driver, right angle die grinder, straight die grinder, fixed foredom rotary tool, cordless Dremel, rotary hammer, all of them are spinning tools, and in aggregate start to take up a decent amount of volume, then one starts to wonder if it's possible to have one tool do double or triple duty.

For others, it's probably about cheaping out, but not everyone.

 

[steel 35]

9D for me!
I have die grinders and don't like straight.
May just be the broken wrist?

 

[darkzero]

I haven't read the entire thread but as much as I hate the saying.... "been there, done that". I have both the straight & right angle M12 die grinders, also have/been using straight & right angle air die grinders for decades.

BTW, straight & right angle die grinders are for different uses IMO, it's not that I prefer one over the other, it depends on what I need to use them for, totally different uses.

One day I decided to try the M12 right angle die grinder for something I needed to polish but having using air die grinders for years I suspected it would not work out. Bought a inexpensive polishing pad & backing pad "kit" from Amz. The one I bought had a 5/16" shank or something like that. I machined it down 1/4" to work in the die grinder. Sure enough, I was right, M12 die grinder spins way too fast which I knew. Variable speed trigger will not remedy this & die grinders don't have enough torque for polishing.


So I ended doing what I was trying to avoid, buy the M12 polisher. Such an old tool (brushed) that MW hasn't updated yet, price still too high, & stupid MW again for using a proprietary spindle thread. I got a good deal on it but still. Other brands have brushless ones already & use a common 5/16" spindle thread.

So I bought a M9 to 1/4 thread adapter (why the f'ck would they use a M9 thread, idiots!). I cut the shank off my polishing pad arbor, tapped it for 1/4" thread. Did it on the lathe so it would haven't runout issues. The proprietary M9 thread backing plate that came with my M12 polisher was junk, wobbles like crazy. The M12 polisher did the job I needed to do just fine but I was still not happy about buying it, that was a yr & half ago. If MW comes out with an updated brushless model I'm gonna be pissed but whatever I won't be buying it anyway.

 

[f121]

For me personally, it's not about cheaping out, it's about volume of tools. Storage space is expensive. Housing costs have skyrocketed. If I can cut three tools down to one tool, for three jobs that I dont do often, even if the cost of the one tool is double the cost of all three separate tools, that's the route I take.

Skip the polisher. It seems like a really niche tool to me - mainly suited to polishing headlights, and who needs to do that regularly? I guess if you’re a tech trying to get headlamps through inspection or a used car flipper trying to get cars through inspection then it would see a lot of action, for most other people, cleaning headlights is a one and done on old cars.

It’s also a job I cba to do, my auto body guy charges $100 to polish and clear coat a pair of headlights, and does a better job than me.

 

[dnschmidt]

I appreciate your comments and I see that you are correct and I agree with you. The speed difference is massive.

For me personally, it's not about cheaping out, it's about volume of tools. Storage space is expensive. Housing costs have skyrocketed. If I can cut three tools down to one tool, for three jobs that I dont do often, even if the cost of the one tool is double the cost of all three separate tools, that's the route I take.

I generally pay more for universal type tools than I would to buy the tools separately. One polisher doesnt take up much space but when you have a drill, hammer drill, impact driver, right angle die grinder, straight die grinder, fixed foredom rotary tool, cordless Dremel, rotary hammer, all of them are spinning tools, and in aggregate start to take up a decent amount of volume, then one starts to wonder if it's possible to have one tool do double or triple duty.

For others, it's probably about cheaping out, but not everyone.

Well, let me solve your problem for you. The M12 polisher has two speeds. One for polishing and the second for using Roloc's like you would on a die grinder. Two tools in one.

 

[oldschoolcraft]

Well, let me solve your problem for you. The M12 polisher has two speeds. One for polishing and the second for using Roloc's like you would on a die grinder. Two tools in one.

Darn, already have the die grinder

 

[JradM]

Maybe the Bosch right angle die grinder would work better for "dual use"?

It's lowest speed setting tops out at 5000 rpm instead of the M12's 10,000 rpm. It comes with a 1/4" collet, but a 5/16" is also available.

 

[DesertG]

Guys, I have the M12 polisher. I can't find a solution to use 2" foam buffing pads. Is this possible. I need to get in a tight place. Thank you!

 

[darkzero]

Need to buy an adapter like I did. Or make one if you have a lathe, I have a lathe & I still bought one cause they're not expensive. Then you can adapt whatever backing pad you want.

There are various types of adapters, choose what you need. Search "M12 polisher adapter" on Amazon.